History Main / CerebusRetCon

-->-- '''Kenny McCormick''', on one of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'''s [[TheyKilledKennyAgain most famous]] {{Running Gag}}s

-->-- '''Kenny''', on one of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'''s [[TheyKilledKennyAgain most famous]] {{Running Gag}}s

** Han Solo's ArbitrarySkepticism towards the Force and Obi-Wan in ''A New Hope'' take on new meaning after ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', where he goes through a similar pattern of a mentor who loses someone he cared for to the Dark Side [[spoiler: to the point of dying at the hands of Kylo Ren, who was once Ben Solo before he was corrupted by Supreme Leader Snoke]].

* The OmegaEnding of the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere'' was a TomatoInTheMirror as the PlayerCharacter, Nemo [[spoiler: was revealed to be an ArtificialIntelligence created by Simon Orestes Cohen, to kill [[BrainUpload Abyssal Dision]].]] However, later games would go on to paint Nemo’s origins in a ''much'' darker light. In ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy'', a remake of ''VideoGame/AceCombat2'', the [[BonusBoss Z.O.E.]] is retconned into being a primitive ArtificialIntelligence that was created by the vengeful remnants of [[VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar Belka]]. Fast forward to ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', the Z.O.E. project is given to the Eruseans, [[spoiler: and the constant improvements upon the technology result in [[FinalBoss Hugin and Munin]], [[AIIsACrapshoot who try to start a]] RobotWar against humanity.]]

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' has Yondu remark that Peter Quill's father was a "jackass" when one of the Ravagers laments they didn't deliver Quill to him. Come ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', [[spoiler: Yondu is proven right when Quill meets his biological father Ego the Living Planet, who wants to eliminate all life in the universe by replacing it with extensions of his Celestial self. Ego had even killed hundreds of his own children after they were delivered to him by Yondu and didn't have his Celestial gene. Yondu even dies trying to save Peter, meaning that he truly became Quill's father-figure after he was abducted. It also has the effect of taking the RunningGag of Yondu going soft and making it so he was fiercely protective of Peter and helped him learn to survive on his own]].

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': Arcee was orignally pink because PinkMeansFeminine. Now, she's pink because pink is the color of energon, that is, the color of ''[[AlienBlood Cybertronian blood.]]'' In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime, [[TrueBlueFemininity she's blue]] and the energon in that series just so happens to be blue as well.

** At the start of ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Odin banished Thor and stripped him of his power after Thor nearly started a war. ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' shows that Odin [[spoiler:had to imprison Hela after she grew out of control in her desire for conquest, meaning now Odin banishing Thor had more to do with stopping Thor from becoming a monster like Hela was than merely trying to teach him humility.]]
** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', Tony nicknaming his holographic therapy machine [[FunWithAcronyms B.A.R.F.]] is treated as an offhand joke. In ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'', we see that its inventor [[spoiler: Quentin Beck]] was outraged that Stark ridiculed his life's work with such a demeaning nickname. [[spoiler: This was the catalyst that led to Beck becoming a supervillain and endangering thousands of lives in his quest to make himself look like a hero. Though it's obvious that he was already mentally unstable and Tony would have taken him a lot more seriously than he probably imagined]].

* On page 6 of ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'', Izzy dumps a bucket of whale cum off the top of her appartment building onto passerbys below [[IdleRich because she's bored]]. At first, this just seems like a case of VulgarHumor, [[spoiler:but then it's revealed 590 pages later that the woman who was hit by it suffered an allergic reaction that horribly scarred her face, resulting in her trying to kill Izzy out of revenge.]]

* ''Film/TheHitmansWifesBodyguard'', Michael's obsession with seat belts from [[Film/TheHitmansBodyguard the first time]] take a serious toll here, as it's revealed to be because his mother got killed when an obese man fell off a ride at the amusement park and crushed her because he wasn't wearing seat belts.

** ''CerebusRetcon/GravityFalls''

** The reason why The Patriot in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', a copy of The Boss's WeaponOfChoice, has infinite ammo, is that it has an infinity-symbol shaped drum magazine, giving infinite ammo. However, in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', it's explained that the Patriot has infinite ammo because ''"they say The Boss left a part of her soul behind inside it"'', making it more into a blessed memento of a supernaturally-gifted soldier rather than a cheap joke. It winds up a VoodooShark though, as the infinite ammo is explicitly noted about it before this could have happened. [[spoiler:You only get the Patriot after you have killed The Boss, but when talking about it Snake had not yet killed his mentor, and the method that Snake gets it is lampshaded for being dubious. He isn't even supposed to have it until after he kills The Boss]].

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' does this to several moments in its parent show ''Series/BreakingBad'', where Saul Goodman (a.k.a. Jimmy McGill) had largely been a comic relief character:

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' does this to several moments in its parent show ''Series/BreakingBad'', where Saul Goodman had largely been a comic relief character:

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation has done this to recontextualize the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness known as "lolFoundation".

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'''s intentionally and inherently farcical premise has been retconned in later seasons, [[GenreShift turning the series into a dramedy]] [[CharacterFocus centering around the vaguely plausible science-fiction story of the]] "[[HiredGuns Free]][[SuperSoldier lancers]]," who were originally introduced as soldiers able to be hired by both Red and Blue Team as part of the video game-ish setting.

* As ''[[Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'' went on, the Mario [[PaletteSwap recolors]] that were a big part of the main cast in the early years, [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome simply vanished from the series]]. The [[MilestoneCelebration 10 Year Anniversary Special]] reveals [[spoiler: they were hunted down by an EldritchAbomination named Zero in his pursuit of Mario]].

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'''s adventure mode, it is revealed that [[VideoGame/GameAndWatch Mr. Game & Watch]] is actually made out of a special substance, that can be used to harvest shadow bugs, which are used to support the entire conflict of the story.

* If the PlayerCharacter talks about their expectations for high school with Alicia in ''VideoGame/GrowingUp'', she hopes that it'll be just like on TV, including the {{Very Special Episode}}s. The PC worries about that, not wanting a car crash in real life, but Alicia [[AlphaBitch doesn't mind "soooome people" dying because she thinks they're lame.]] [[spoiler:This BlackComedy moment turns bleak in high school when she's forced to volunteer at the hospital, and she starts feeling bad for the dying patients, realizing that not everyone is as well-to-do as her and her wealthy family.]]

** Similarly, we have Saul's freak-out during Jesse and Walt's plan to scare him in Saul's introductory episode, "Better Call Saul"; he screams in fear of someone named "Don Lalo" and tries to blame "Ignacio," which will stay as a hilarious NoodleIncident until the episode "Point and Shoot," where the circumstances will be revealed and seem legitimately terrifying.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' does this to several moments in its parent show ''Series/BreakingBad'':

** In ''Series/BreakingBad'', Skyler skeptically looking over Saul's degree from the University of American Samoa is PlayedForLaughs. Not so much here, where Chuck takes every opportunity to tear Jimmy's chances of going legit down because it's implied to be a shady diploma mill.
** Similarly, we have Saul's freak-out during Jesse and Walt's plan to scare him in Saul's introductory episode, "Better Call Saul", once you take "Point and Shoot" into account. What at first seems like Saul simply fearing for his life turns into Jimmy thinking Lalo's men have decided to finally kill him. Especially after he says that whatever they think he did, ''Ignacio'' [[spoiler:aka. Nacho]] was the real one to blame.

** It also makes the persona of "Saul Goodman" much darker than originally (as he was just meant to be PluckyComedicRelief), as the creators have discussed that they really needed to answer the question "what problem does becoming Saul Goodman solve?" and the only valid response was "...because Jimmy [=McGill=] hates himself."

** In Series 6's "Closing Time", it's revealed the Doctor can 'speak baby', and characterizes the baby in question as a megalomaniac that addresses itself as "Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All," all of which is PlayedForLaughs. In Series 9's "The Girl Who Died", two series later, the Doctor translates a baby's speech in a much more haunting and poetic manner that is played as an otherworldly and beautiful moment.

** Similarly, we have Saul's freak-out during Jesse and Walt's plan to scare him in Saul's introductory episode, "Better Call Saul", once you take "Mijo" into account. What at first seems like Saul simply fearing for his life turns into Jimmy thinking Tuco's men have decided to finally kill him. Especially after he says that whatever they think he did, ''Ignacio'' [[spoiler:aka. Nacho]] was the real one to blame.

** Most of the first arc was written without an overarching plot in mind, with the ExcusePlot of a party of adventurers clearing a dungeon to defeat an evil sorcerer lich. Notably, the dungeon is full of goblin mooks, who are treated as disposable by everyone, including the protagonists. Needless to say, later plot developments, especially the prequel book ''Start of Darkness'', put a much darker spin on this. [[spoiler:Goblins and other monster races were ''deliberately created'' by the gods for the sole purpose of giving XP to adventurers, more specifically their own clerics. Their leader Redcloak -- supposedly TheDragon of the story -- is in fact ''horrified'' by everyone, including his master Xykon, needlessly throwing away goblin lives, and his secret plan is to blackmail the gods into giving his race fairer living conditions.]]

->''"I've experienced death, countless times. Sometimes, I see a bright light. Sometimes, I see Heaven, or Hell. But eventually, no matter what, I wake up in my bed, wearing my same old clothes. (''voice cracks'') And the worst part? Nobody even remembers me dying! I go to school the next day, and everyone is just like, 'Oh, hey, Kenny.' Even if they had seen me get decapitated with their own eyes. You wanna whine about curses, Hindsight? You're talking to the wrong fucking cowboy."''